Danish move may help make public interest whistleblowing more acceptable.

Tax officials in Denmark are
reportedly paying an unknown source around £1 million (~$1.3M) for
secret financial information on hundreds of Danish nationals.

Their names appear in the Panama Papers,
leaked earlier this year, which consist of 11.5 million files from the
database of Mossack Fonseca—the world's fourth biggest offshore law
firm.

This is the first time, according to Danish newspaperPolitiken,
that Denmark has agreed to buy information on possible tax evaders in
this way. Denmark also seems to be the first country to admit that it's
acquiring data from a source with access to the leaked Mossack Fonseca
documents. [Update: apparently Iceland made an earlier deal—see comment below.]

Politiken
reported that the unusual deal was the result of secret negotiations
conducted with an unknown seller. What seems to have clinched it was a
"free sample" that was sent to prove the value of the data. An official
with Denmark's tax office explained:

This [sample] convinced us of the quality of
the documents. They are real and they contain information that is very
relevant to us. Both of specific individuals, and especially super
interesting knowledge about the methods used by advisers and the
middlemen they use.

This can give us a breakthrough in the investigation of tax havens.

In return for the payment, the Danish
government will apparently receive data from the Panama Papers relating
to about 320 cases involving 500 to 600 Danes. The tax authorities
expect to have the relevant files at the end of September.

Although Politiken
reported that the country's tax minister "discreetly secured the
backing of a majority in parliament" to conclude the negotiations, the
deal is not without its critics. Another article
in the newspaper, written by the national secretary of Denmark's Young
Conservatives, asked: "If I bought a set of documents which I knew was
stolen, then I would be convicted of receiving stolen goods. Why is it
different because the taxman is involved?"

Despite that controversy, Denmark's move might clear the way for other countries to make similar deals. As noted by the Guardian,
government officials in Germany paid under €1 million (~$1.1M) for a
significantly smaller Mossack Fonseca leak in 2014. Customers of
Germany's second largest bank, Commerzbank, were later raided on
suspicion of tax evasion.

The lucrative nature of the deal might also
encourage others to leak information that could be considered in the
public interest. The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament wants
to encourage responsible leaking by bringing in legal protection for
whistleblowers, and the organization has published a draft version of its proposed EU whistleblowers Directive.